CROATIA SEEKS POLICE COOPERATION AGREEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000526

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, INL/AAE, S/CT, L/LEI, DS/IP/EUR
JUSTICE FOR ANDREA TISI
SARAJEVO FOR LEGATT:MOORE
ROME FOR DEA
VIENNA FOR DHS:COTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2016
TAGS: KJUS KCRM PTER PREL ASEC HR
SUBJECT: CROATIA SEEKS POLICE COOPERATION AGREEMENT

REF: A. FRIEDMAN-BELL E-MAIL OF 1/20/06


B. ZAGREB 475

Classified By: Poloff Justin Friedman, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (U) This is an action request for EUR/SCE.

SUMMARY and ACTION REQUEST
--------------


2. (C) In an April 11 meeting, Minister of Interior Ivica
Kirin asked the Ambassador to support the signing of a
bilateral police cooperation agreement. As per ref A which
provided the Department with a draft text, Croatian law
enforcement authorities need this agreement to allow direct,
investigator-to-investigator contact between U.S. and
Croatian law enforcement officials. While this is the first
time the GoC has used a high-level intervention to request
this agreement, working level GoC contacts have repeatedly
asked Post and visiting law enforcement attaches for almost a
year for such an agreement to facilitate law enforcement
cooperation. Croatian law requires that all official law
enforcement contact, including much routine RSO business, be
channeled through the Ministry of Interior,s INTERPOL office
unless we sign a bilateral agreement. Post strongly urges
the Departments of State and Justice to expedite a review of
the proposed Croatian draft agreement with an eye toward
signing the agreement at a possible high level event in
Washington, DC in June. END SUMMARY and ACTION REQUEST.

AGREEMENT SOUGHT
--------------


3. (C) In an April 11 meeting following the donation of
USG-funded anti-TIP equipment (ref B),Minister of Interior
Ivica Kirin asked the Ambassador and the visiting
Sarajevo-based LEGATT to help expedite the signing of a
bilateral police cooperation agreement. In ref A, Post
forwarded to the Department a draft text based on a similar
agreement the GoC signed with the UK which would provide a
legal basis for cooperation between all USG and GoC law
enforcement entities. This agreement would roll in a
previously sought bilateral Customs cooperation agreement.
In previous meetings with Poloff and RSO, as well as with our
non-resident LEGATT, DEA Attache, and DHS Attache, GoC
officials have raised the need to conclude such an agreement.

LEGAL REQUIREMENT
--------------


4. (U) Ministry of Interior (MUP) officials have explained
previously to Poloff the necessity for the GoC to sign
bilateral agreements with other nations, law enforcement
agencies. Croatian law is based on continental law, which
holds that government authorities may only conduct activities
which are expressly permitted by law. The current Law on
Police allows the MUP to share information solely through
INTERPOL channels unless a bilateral agreement is in place.
Although changes to the Law on Police have been under
development since last summer, the generally accepted
interpretation of constitutional law and conventional legal
practice in Croatia holds that GoC must have a bilateral
agreement in place and cannot unilaterally share law
enforcement information. Further, Croatian law on personal
data privacy protection requires this same bilateral
agreement to ensure that information provided to foreign law
enforcement agencies is protected in accordance with Croatian
regulations.

USG INTERESTS SERVED
--------------


5. (C) Currently, almost all law enforcement cooperation is
channeled through the MUP,s INTERPOL office. Although
Post,s RSO has established an effective working relationship
with this office for regular business, this limited channel
restricts our ability to have USG investigation and support
requests met in a timely manner. Further, since the RSO is
the only resident USG law enforcement officer in Zagreb, the
Croatian law enforcement community has limited access to USG
support on criminal investigations with a U.S. link.


6. (C) Post believes that there may be an under-investigated

ZAGREB 00000526 002 OF 002


nexus between some Croatian criminal groups and U.S.
registered corporations. However, lack of easy communication
between U.S. and Croatian law enforcement has limited
investigation into these links. Convicted organized criminal
Hrvoje Petrac, currently in Greece awaiting extradition to
Croatia on kidnapping charges, runs parts of his business
empire through U.S. registered corporations. Chief State
Prosecutor Mladen Bajic and Lazo Paic, the lead State
Prosecutor on economic crime cases, told Poloff that their
investigations into money laundering often lead to dead-ends
with Delaware-registered corporations. Along the same lines,
Customs officials have requested USG assistance in
investigation tax evasion cases involving private yachts
harbored in Croatian waters but officially registered as
being the property of Delaware-registered companies.

CROATIA READY FOR CLOSER LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION
-------------- --------------


7. (C) In seeking this agreement, Minister Kirin and Director
General Marijan Benko emphasized that they will judge the
performance of the police forces under their command by their
success in identifying, capturing, and prosecuting criminals.
Kirin said that GoC law enforcement was well aware of the
smuggling rings that pervade the region who seek to use the
potential weakness of Croatia,s 1000km border with Bosnia
and Herzegovina to smuggle people, weapons, drugs and other
contraband through Croatia into Europe. Kirin,s greatest
concern is that terrorist groups operating in Bosnia would
link up with Russian and Chinese organized criminals and
increase the deadly capacities of terrorists to strike
targets in Europe, as well as foreign embassies in Croatia.
With that threat in mind, Kirin seeks to de-bureaucratize law
enforcement cooperation with this agreement to make bilateral
cooperation more effective, comprehensive, and timely.
FRANK